1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a nozzle and, in particular, to a nozzle for a fluid dispensing system. Still more particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for concurrently dispensing a fluid through a nozzle and fairing a surface of the fluid deposited to form a fillet using the nozzle.
2. Background
Some manufacturing and assembly operations may require that a material be applied to the interface between two or more components to seal the interface, prevent a leakage of fluid through the interface, and/or reduce undesired electromagnetic effects at the interface. Oftentimes, the material used may include, for example, without limitation, a sealant material, a caulking material, an adhesive material, and/or some other type of material.
As one illustrative example, a first component and a second component may be joined to form an interface that is a corner. The corner may be an interior corner, which may be also referred to as an internal corner. A material, such as a sealant material, may be dispensed as a fluid and applied to the corner to form a fillet at this corner.
As used herein, a “fillet” may be a filling of an interior corner in which the filling has at least one surface that contacts the first component, at least one surface that contacts the second component, and at least one surface that contacts neither the first component nor the second component.
The fluid forming the fillet may then be allowed to cure, or harden, to form a seal at the interface. In some cases, the shape of the surface of the fillet not in contact with the first component or the second component may need to be changed. For example, without limitation, the fillet may need to be reworked such that the seal that will be formed has a surface shape that is resistant to inconsistencies. In one illustrative example, the fillet may be reworked such that the shape of the surface of the fillet not in contact with the first component or the second component has a curved shape with a desired radius of curvature. The curved shape may be, for example, a concave shape with respect to the corner. Depending on the implementation, the curved shape may have a constant and/or varying radius of curvature.
The curved shape desired for the fillet may be selected such that the seal formed at the corner has a reduced likelihood of peeling away from the corner over time or separating from the surfaces of the components joined at the corner. Some currently available techniques for forming fillets may include dispensing a bead of fluid at a corner using a dispensing device to form a fillet. Thereafter, one or more other tools may be used to rework the surface shape of the fillet such that the surface shape has a desired shape. The reworking of the surface shape may include fairing the surface of the fillet. As used herein, “fairing” may mean smoothing out, rounding, and/or reshaping the surface shape in some other manner after the fluid has been applied but prior to solidification of the fluid. In other words, fairing may be performed while the fluid that was applied to form the fillet is still workable.
The process of dispensing fluid to form a fillet and then reworking the surface shape of the fillet, as described above, may be more time-consuming than desired. In particular, using multiple tools to perform these different operations may be more time-consuming and, in some cases, more expensive, than desired. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a method and apparatus that take into account at least some of the issues discussed above, as well as other possible issues.